Patents Examined by Arthur G. Evans
  • Patent number: 6906812
    Abstract: A bar code or similar symbol can be printed accurately within a specified printing area by a printer for printing such symbols. The printer has a symbol image generator for converting display data to a symbol and has hardware or software for reporting the size of the converted symbol to a host device. The host sends specific commands and text data for representation in the printed symbol to the printer for printing. As a result, the host can confirm whether printing within the specific area is possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Naohiko Koakutsu, Teisuke Takei
  • Patent number: 6900901
    Abstract: When a recording starting point of a color photosensitive material reaches a position on which light beams are focused by a condenser lens and a reflecting mirror, a light beam is emitted from a red organic EL element of a light source by a controller, and red image data corresponding to a plurality of lines is transferred to a DMD. In accordance with the image data, on-off control of micromirrors of the DMD is carried out, and the red light beam emitted from the light source is made incident on the DMD. When the micromirrors are on, the incident light beam is reflected toward the reflecting mirror. The light beam is focused onto a recording surface of the color photosensitive material by the condenser lens and the reflecting mirror, and red exposure is carried out. Subsequently, green exposure and blue exposure are carried out in the same way.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2005
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Akinori Harada
  • Patent number: 6897976
    Abstract: Image data developed on print buffers can be read at consecutive or adjacent addresses and transferred to recording heads at high speed. An I/F DMA block transfers image data to DRAM at discrete addresses to develop the image data on DRAM. Thereafter, a head DMA block reads the image data in DRAM at addresses consecutive in a mount direction of the recording heads and transfers the read image data to the recording heads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2005
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Souhei Tanaka, Masafumi Wataya, Noriyuki Suzuki, Hiroshi Uemura, Nobuyuki Tsukada
  • Patent number: 6894810
    Abstract: A color conversion method and apparatus for a compact printer system. An image processor converts a stored image from a first tri-color space to a second tri-color space. Resultant transformation values are read from lookup tables for each color component of the stored image pixels and a single cycle interpolator unit performs linear interpolation to generate a single color component in the second tri-color space in 14 cycles. In one example, the L*a*b* color space is converted to CMY color space. In another example, the RGB form is converted to the L*a*b* form and two extra L* components for use in sharpening a converted image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2005
    Assignee: Silverbrook Research PTY LTD
    Inventor: Simon Robert Walmsley
  • Patent number: 6894795
    Abstract: A method of apprising a user of print job status includes assessing what portion of a print job has been processed, displaying a status of the print job reflecting the portion of the print job that has been processed, iterating assessing and displaying until assessing determines that the print job has been entirely processed and terminating the print job when assessing determines that the print job has been entirely processed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2005
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Shell S. Simpson, Kris R. Livingston
  • Patent number: 6888643
    Abstract: A paperless printing system for storing and displaying documents produced by print facilities of a data processing system comprises a docking station in communication with a printer port of the data processing system. The docking station receives, from the data processing system, printer data that defines one or more documents. A portable viewer that is removably coupled with the docking station receives the printer data from the docking station. A rewritable memory within the portable viewer stores the printer data. One or more controls on the portable viewer respond to operator manipulation by causing the portable viewer to utilize the printer data to display a desired portion of the one or more documents at least when the portable viewer is not coupled with the docking station and not in communication with the data processing system. In an illustrative embodiment, the system also includes a printer driver in the data processing system that is associated with the paperless printer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2005
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Benjamin Russell Grimes
  • Patent number: 6882439
    Abstract: The Disclosure relates to a printing service method for discounting services by printing with advertisements and realizes various discount services. The present invention comprises: a printing step for sending printing management information along with the user ID to the server 4 through the network 3 when the user prints with advertisements with the user's printing device 2, and storing that information as an advertisement usage record for each user ID; a step for referencing the user's advertisement usage record, for least one service, selected by the user from among a plurality of services relating to the printing device that used the advertisement printing record, determining whether to authorize the discount for the selected service, and updating the advertisement usage record of the abovementioned user to perform the authorized discount service. A variety of discount services can be realized because the print operation with advertisements is managed by the server and the user can use the usage records.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2005
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroyasu Ishijima
  • Patent number: 6876461
    Abstract: To enable easy image file management, while allowing a user at an Internet terminal to access image files effortlessly, a printing control device uploads image files stored in an auxiliary storage section to an image management device connected via the Internet, and prints an image on the basis of the image file by means of a printer. In the printing control device, a URL acquisition section obtains a URL corresponding to a directory of the image management device on the basis of the input user ID; an image file transmission section uploads the image file to the acquired URL; and in a print processing section, it prints the acquired URL, along with an image based on the image file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2005
    Assignee: Noritsu Koki Co., Ltd
    Inventor: Yasushi Usami
  • Patent number: 6873427
    Abstract: The color image forming apparatus forms color images on a recording medium using the reading unit for continuously reading color images from a plurality of documents to output color image data corresponding to the color images and a plurality of image forming units which are provided to form images for a plurality of color signals constituting the color image data on the basis of the color image data read by the reading unit. In the color image forming apparatus, the reading unit is controlled to start reading of a next document of the document corresponding to the images under image forming when the predetermined image forming unit finishes image forming among the plurality of image forming units before the color image forming is finished.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2005
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoji Matsuda, Yuji Rikima
  • Patent number: 6873424
    Abstract: For use in a printer (such as a computer printer, a facsimile machine or other device suited to place data on a tangible medium), a system for, and method of, incorporating an advertisement into a printout and a printer having the system or method contained or carried out therein. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a memory, located in the printer, that receives and stores user content, the advertisement and verification data regarding the advertisement and (2) a processor, associated with the memory, that employs the verification data to make a verification of the advertisement and, if the verification is positive, cause the printer to continue operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2005
    Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Bjorn M. Jakobsson, Fabian Monrose
  • Patent number: 6864992
    Abstract: A network system includes at least one computer server and at least one client computer having a printer respectively connected to a network. The system has a print log generating device that generates a print log having printer usage contents including software used by the at least one client computer when a printing request is made in the at least one client computer. A print log storing device stores the print log, a collecting device collects the print log from the at least one client computer, and an aggregating device aggregates usage contents of the printer per a prescribed category. The print log generating device and the print log storing device are provided in the at least one client computer, and the collecting device is provided in the at least one computer server.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2005
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Yasushi Okada
  • Patent number: 6862103
    Abstract: There is disclosed a network print system which aims at printing high-quality image data of, e.g., a form or the like generated using a Web browser. When a form image is displayed on a Web browser of a client, and its print process is instructed, the instruction is sent to a server. The server searches a form template storage unit for an appropriate template, merges it with data by an image generation unit, converts the merged data into PDL data by a print output unit, and prints the converted data as a high-quality image from a printer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2005
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kiyotaka Miura, Tsunehiro Tsukada, Yasuyuki Tsukui, Akira Ueda, Takashi Matsushita, Masaki Tamura
  • Patent number: 6862104
    Abstract: An information transmitting apparatus includes: a job status management unit (e.g., a controller made up of a micro computer and other components) for managing the job statuses of transmitting information of the first and second information transmitting devices (e.g., a facsimile unit and e-mail facsimile unit); a display unit (display portion) for displaying the transmission status of jobs in each information transmitting device managed by the job status management unit; and a display controller (e.g., a controller made up of a micro computer and other components) for determining, based on the destination designated by a destination designating device (operation control portion), which transmission status of jobs of the first or second information transmitting device should be displayed on the display unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2005
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shunsuke Yajima, Tatsuo Nomura, Kouki Fukuda, Syoichiro Yoshiura
  • Patent number: 6859290
    Abstract: A digital copier has a memory for storage of image data, reads image data and stores the image data in the memory, and prints an image depending on the image data stored in the memory. The digital copier can also register a plurality of jobs. Based on a registered job an image is printed. Then, based on the subsequent job an image is printed. When an image data corresponding to a new job cannot be stored in the memory, the digital copier effects the process for calculation of job execution time, a process of calculating a free memory capacity, and a process of calculating the time required for obtaining a timing at which a free memory space is provided, to display the time at which the image data corresponding to the new job can be stored. Thus, a digital copier can be provided allowing the user to form images efficiently.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2005
    Assignee: Minolta Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Nobuhiro Mishima, Yoshikazu Ikenoue, Kazuo Inui
  • Patent number: 6856424
    Abstract: An integrated computerized system for use in color printing having at least one digital representation of a color characteristic of at least one page to be printed and a digital storage memory for storing the digital representation. An imposition apparatus is connected to the storage memory to receive the digital representation and arrange the digital representation in accordance with a desired plate layout, thereby to define a plate image. A press set-up device extracts from the plate image the color characteristic and provides ink flow set-up data to a printing press in accordance with the extracted color characteristic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2005
    Assignee: Creo Il. Ltd.
    Inventors: Rafail Bronstein, Ehud Spiegel, Ephraim A. Carlebach
  • Patent number: 6856419
    Abstract: An integrated computerized system for use in color printing having at least one digital representation of a color characteristic of at least one page to be printed and a digital storage memory for storing the digital representation. An imposition apparatus is connected to the storage memory to receive the digital representation and arrange the digital representation in accordance with a desired plate layout, thereby to define a plate image. A press set-up device extracts from the plate image the color characteristic and provides ink flow set-up data to a printing press in accordance with the extracted color characteristic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2005
    Assignee: Creo IL LTD
    Inventors: Rafail Bronstein, Ehud Spiegel, Ephraim A. Carlebach
  • Patent number: 6856416
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for allocating a print job among multiple printers. The apparatus includes one or more computer workstations that are communicatively coupled to a controller. The controller is communicatively coupled to plural multifunction peripherals (MFPs) for printing. The system provides a user an option of designating a print job as a tandem mode job, wherein a controller utilizes the multiple MFPs in printing the job in order to decrease the overall print time. In one embodiment, the controller utilizes only two MFPs. In another embodiment, more than two MFPs are utilized. Regardless of the number of MFPs utilized, all of the MFPs are desirably controlled by the same controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2005
    Assignee: Toshiba Tech Corporation
    Inventor: Daniel A. Danknick
  • Patent number: 6856418
    Abstract: A printing device has a number of discrete components in a path traversed by print media. The number of uses of each discrete component in the print path is individually monitored and recorded. The number of individual uses of at least one discrete component is provided at the printing device and/or over a communications network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2005
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Douglas A. Cheney
  • Patent number: 6856415
    Abstract: A method for interactively acquiring a page in a network by providing a user interface element, such as a window, for collecting the page in the network, interactively acquiring the page from the network, and inserting the page in the window. A content acquisition facility resident on a client machine can be employed to generate the window. Further, a URL list can be interactively created by launching a browser, generating another user interface element with a URL collection facility, acquiring the URL corresponding to a selected page in the network during browsing, and inserting the URL in the user interface element to create the URL list. Subsequently, the URL list can be imported into a document. The content associated with the URL can then be dynamically, automatically retrieved and placed in the document.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2005
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Andrew D. Simchik, Kristinn R. Rzepkowski, Thomas J. Perry
  • Patent number: RE38732
    Abstract: A image is printed from a source of drawing instructions. The image is reducible to pixels arranged in a plurality of ranked image lines. The system employs a storage device having compressed and uncompressed regions. Each region has a designated capacity and each is arranged to store pixels of one or more of the plurality of image lines. A drawing processor is coupled to the storage device and can be coupled to the source of drawing instructions for responding thereto. This drawing processor can store new pixels in the storage device for successively selected ones of the image lines. The drawing processor has a conditional device, a decompression device and an insertion device. The conditional device can compressively encode and move from the uncompressed region to the compressed region, a remote one of the image lines, if: a) the selected one of the image lines is in the compressed region, and b) the uncompressed region has reached its designated capacity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2005
    Assignee: Electronics for Imaging, Inc.
    Inventors: Patrick H. Wood, Stephen Kochan